Augustus Gloop
is once again "
enormously fat
" and not just "
enormous
";
Mrs. Twit brings back the full collection of adjectives ("
terribly ugly and bestial
") and the Oompa-Loompas leave gender neutrality behind as "little people" and reclaim their lost masculinity as "
little men
"...
The publishing house Puffin, from the Penguin Random House group, has given in to the storm of criticism unleashed in the United Kingdom for
the politically correct rewriting of Roald Dahl's stories
and will once again publish 16 titles in the original version within its Classic Collection.
The "updated" versions -with the questionable tweaks so as not to hurt the sensitivity of readers for reasons of weight, mental health, gender or race- will also be available in bookstores, but at least children and not-so-children will be able to choose between the original or decaffeinated texts of
'Matilda', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'James and the Giant Peach' and 'The Big Good-natured Giant'
.
"We have taken into account the cultural debate that has ensued and people will be able to choose their preferred version of Dahl's stories," Penguin Randon House publisher Tom Weldon wrote in a letter to his staff.
"Sometimes
decisions can be challenging and uncomfortable
, and this has been one of them."
The announcement came hours after the queen consort herself, Camila, called on writers to resist any kind of censorship: "Please,
be faithful to your vocation
, and do not stop those who wish to restrict your freedom of expression or set limits to your imagination".
The 'corrections' of Dahl's usual displays of irreverence to adapt them to the 'woke' culture had been harshly criticized by writers such as Salman Rushdie, who publishes in the same publishing house: "Roald Dahl was not an angel, but this is
a absurd censorship
: Puffin Books and its heirs should be ashamed".
To know more
Literature.
Roald Dahl case: where cancel culture meets business
Writing: LUIS ALEMANY Madrid
Roald Dahl case: where cancel culture meets business
Literature.
The Santillana publishing house will not change Roald Dahl's books in Spain: "We do not attend to any type of censorship"
Drafting: RAQUEL R. INCERTIS Madrid
The Santillana publishing house will not change Roald Dahl's books in Spain: "We do not attend to any type of censorship"
The idea of updating Dahl's texts came precisely from his grandson Luke Kelly, when he was in charge of the Roald Dahl Story Company (RSDC), as revealed by
The Daily Mail
.
The review of the texts began secretly in 2020
and culminated in April 2022, with the sale of the company for the equivalent of 417 million euros to Netflix.
That same year, the family publicly apologized for Dahl's frequent anti-Semitic comments, who died in 1990 at the age of 74. And specifically for his statements to
The New Statesman
in 1983 when he said: "
There is a trait in the character of Jews that provokes aversion
. There is always a reason why an 'anti-something' ends up emerging. Even a scoundrel like Hitler did not choose them without reason."
"At his best, and at his absolute worst,
Roald Dahl could help us remember the lasting impact of words
", could be read on the portal dedicated to the author.
For Nadia Cohen, author of The Real Roald Dahl, the attempt to retouch his texts is included within the campaign sponsored by the family to wash his name and continue taking advantage of his production.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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